Travels. Thoughts. And more waste of cyberspace.

Monthly Archives: September 2013

Thank you Heidee for helping me get back to blogging. And because of that, though I won’t fully comply with the rules of this meme, I will attempt to answer the 11 questions you posted. Haha. 🙂

What was your first ever memory?

Hmmm. Now this is hard. My first few memories would probably be here in our house. We moved here when I was ~1 year old from our old place in Tondo, Manila. I remember our old room, our old garden here, and all the renovations done with this house.

Who is your idol and why?

This is a hard question as well! (H, why??? Hahahaha!) I’ll always be a fan of well-rounded individuals, but in terms of having an idol…hmmm….can I get back to this question someday? Haha

What is your favorite year and why?

So far, it would be 2011, the year I traveled with my sister to my dream city – Rome. While having coffee in one of the quaint shops in Italy, my sister told me one heartwarming statement I’ll never forget. She said “Who would have thought that one day, we’ll be having coffee together here in Rome?”. This is big for us since we are not from a rich family. And yes, it made me realize that dreams do come true.

If you could be somebody else for a day, who would you pick? It can be anyone alive or dead, real or fictitious.

If I would be given a chance to exchange lives with anyone right now, it would be with Victoria Beckham or Olivia Palermo. 😛 Hahaha.

Can you point me to the best blog you ever wrote, or at least one that you think I should read?

I’ve switched blogs a few times already, and I’ve kept most of my original blog’s posts private (because you know, they’re all whiny teenage angst posts). Haha! Also, I rarely write something with “content”, so I don’t think I ever had a post I can consider the best. 😛

What was the best birthday present you ever received?

My HK/Europe vacation last 2011!

Name three things you can’t live without.

Material things? My phone, chocolates, coffee.

If you could turn back time, what would you do differently?

Personally? I’d probably be more health-conscious while I was younger. But overall, I think it’s unhealthy to look back and imagine things you could have done differently. I say acknowledge those mistakes and do the best to change them with the present.

If a genie appeared in front of you and asked you to make one wish, what would it be?

Since today marks the last day of my first year of teaching, I think it deserves a post.

I never really saw myself being in this profession. I have had favorite teachers and professors, but I’ve never dreamed of being one when I was a student. And I guess it goes the same way to my family and friends.

I have always done good/excellent in school. I’ve always been competitive. So I guess it was natural for my parents to think that I would fit the corporate ladder. That I’d be hungry to be on top of a corporation or something. But eventually, I found out that more than being on top, my passion is to share my knowledge.

So how did all these start?

I remember my first “official” (aka paid hehehe) teaching stint was when I got a tutor post at Ahead back in college. I still laugh remembering how impatient and mataray I was back then. Did I already enjoy it during that time? I don’t think so. Haha. For me, it was more of just a means to make use of the free time I had.

It was during the last months of my almost-2 years stay in the corporate world that I felt to go back to the field of academe. After I resigned, I enrolled and took my Masteral in Engineering. Since all of my classes are at night, I got myself a part-time job at Tutoring Club. I think this is where my teaching skills – patience, interaction skills, etc – started to get developed.

Then a month before my graduation ceremony for my MS diploma, the same week I got back from vacation, I got an offer to teach in the university. And the rest is history.

Teaching is a very challenging job. Different situations require different approaches. When you’re teaching kids, you have to be as animated as you can. Children don’t get sarcasm. They also won’t want to be with you if you scare them. When you’re teaching in a review lecture, you can’t impose discipline as you would only meet them once in the whole stretch of their review. You would have to be able to sustain their attention the best way you can. But I think the most challenging is teaching in a university. As someone relatively young, you would have to find the right balance between being authoritative and approachable. You would have to have enough maturity to be able to decide the best way you can instill learning on your students, yet be “cool” enough to be someone they can relate to.

Just the other day, a former student of mine asked me “Miss, san kayo kumukuha ng patience to teach?” (“Miss, where do you get the patience to teach?”. To be honest, I didn’t know how to answer at first because I’m probably one of the most impatient and ill-tempered people I know. Haha. (And I guess same goes with my friends as most of them still don’t see me as a professor hahaha). But that’s also what I love about teaching, it constantly improves me. I may not be the most patient person now, but I think I am more in control of my composure and temper. I am more careful of my actions and words. And that I always think of how and what my students can get from their time with me above anything else.

I am very thankful that early in this life, I’ve already found my passion. And that despite not being rich, my family allowed me to pursue teaching even though it is not lucrative. Being able to work in a job that impacts and helps others directly is one of the best feelings in the world. (Like getting a text from a tutee saying she got perfect in her Calculus exam makes me really happy. Haha). I may not be the best professor/teacher in the world, but I will always strive to be a good one, or a professor/teacher that makes them become their better selves.